By Your Side (ioriku)

10

Iori rushes to the bakery. It's just around the corner but the jog feels infinite.

The nightly spring winds were torturous, especially when he hadn't bothered to slip out of his comfortable sweatpants and his plain blue tee. He didn't mind it much, however he preferred wearing a school uniform above all else. His work uniform, on the other hand, was too cute, and better suited for someone like his brother.

He could only imagine the look of shock on his brother's face when the Kujo Tenn showed up at his bakery.

From a distance, Iori could see through the glass. The orange lights are dimmed, and Tenn is sitting at a table across from Mitsuki who is busy chatting up a storm. Whatever it is they're talking about, it must be fascinating. Tenn listens attentively, nodding as Mitsuki goes on and on.

Iori pushes open the glass doors and the bell atop the door chimes, both heads turn to look his way.

For a moment, the stare of Kujo Tenn doesn't frighten him, but it does make him feel uncomfortable. He makes his way inside towards the round table.

"Izumi Iori," Tenn greets, but it seems less of a greeting and more of a threat. "How are you?"

Iori scowls. "I know you're not here to ask me how I am, Kujo-san."

Mitsuki gives Iori a look that says, Don't be rude to our guest!

And Iori gives a mental reply that says, I'm not being rude, I'm being honest!

Mitsuki clears his throat, and stands up stiffly. His voice is unnecessarily loud when he says, "Alright, well, I guess I'll just, uh, let the two of you talk then. I'll be in the back if you need me."

He then heads toward the back of the bakery, walking with steps so deliberate and robotic that it makes Iori want to laugh. But the look on Tenn's face quickly makes him snap back to reality.

"So?" Iori says cockily, as if he had more important matters to attend to. "What do you want?"

"Listen," Tenn says, voice strict and low. "I don't want you to hang around Riku anymore."

Iori has to make sure he's heard correctly. "What?"

"I said, I don't want you and Riku to hang out together anymore," he repeats, as if it were a burden to say again. "It would be better for both of you. I don't know what you are to him, but you're not a good influence."

Iori has never heard that before. In fact, he's only ever heard the opposite. "Are you any better?"

"Excuse me?"

"You abandon your brother for five years and expect him to treat you the same way?"

"Is that what he thinks? That I abandoned him?"

"What did you expect him to think?"

Tenn is silent, he looks off to the side in deep contemplation, as if something irks him but he can't quite put his finger on it.

The atmosphere in the bakery is like a setting sun and it feels strange for Tenn's grandiose presence to exist in such a small place. It was like he was almost harmless... almost.

"I did it for him," Tenn finally says. "I left because he needed me to leave. I left because if I never did, if I didn't brand myself as Kujo Tenn, he'd probably be dead right now."

What do you mean dead? Iori wants to ask but he bites his tongue. It was probably an exaggeration, a saying, anything but it's literal meaning. Iori sits attentively, eyeing the words that come out of Tenn's mouth, refusing to believe a single word.

Tenn continues. "It was a contract for five years. I would change my name to Kujo Tenn, I'd join Trigger, and I wouldn't contact anyone, including my family. But, two weeks ago, my contract ended and I could finally do whatever I wanted, so I went to see Riku."

"If that's the case, then why don't you just tell him?"

Tenn scoffs, "Believe me, I tried."

"No, you didn't," Iori says, shaking his head. "Because if you had, he wouldn't be so upset. He had an attack because of you, you know?"

"Because... of me?"

"Yes! He mentioned that when you were younger his dream was to be an idol, but you stole that dream. He's the one that should've been singing on stage, not you."

Iori isn't sure how he expects Tenn to react to that. But, he certainly does not expect laughter. It's loud and wicked. Almost evil.

"What's so funny?" Iori asks, confusion written all over his face.

Tenn ignores the question entirely.

"Riku doesn't like you," Tenn snaps, entirely out of nowhere, and it stabs Iori right in the heart. "He's sick of you. He doesn't want you around."

"Did..." Iori has to catch his unsteady breath. "Did he tell you that?"

Tenn gives a slow condescending nod. "Today, he went on about how relieved he was that you weren't there. Have you ever stopped to consider that you're exhausting him? That your very presence led to his attack?"

"That's not—"

"You don't know the entire truth, Izumi Iori." Tenn stands up, pushing the chair back into the round table. "Maybe he'll tell you one day."

"Why can't you?"

Tenn heads toward the door. "It's not my truth to tell."

With that, he pushes the door open. The chimes above the door jangle, and a few seconds later, Mitsuki comes back to the front, peering over from behind the counter. "Is he gone?"

"Yes." Iori is still sitting, hands in lap, frozen. His mind is still processing everything that was said to him.

"What did he want? What happened?" Mitsuki asks, sitting beside Iori on the cushioned seats.

"Nothing important," Iori lies, his knees bouncing. Mitsuki can see right through him.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. I'm sure."

Iori doesn't want to admit that Riku is apparently sick of him. That Riku doesn't want him around, that he exhausts him. That he was relieved when Iori didn't visit for once, as if it were a miracle, a weight off of his back. A burden that Riku has finally gotten rid of.

And even though Mitsuki knows his brother is lying, he doesn't pry any further.

-

a/n:

yay new chapter . i did not proofread it so hopefully there r no mistakes ! 

random but . i wholeheartedly believe tenn is perfect in every way . so what if he's rude 4 absolutely 0 reason sometimes ? like arent we all?  yeah this is tenn propoganda IDC !!